firefighters – KNOM Radio Missionhttp://www.knom.org/wp
780 AM | 96.1 FM | Yours for Western AlaskaFri, 16 Mar 2018 23:55:13 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.459285469Nome’s Polaris Hotel on Fire; Blaze Continues Into Afternoon; One Person Unaccounted-Forhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2017/10/31/breaking-polaris-hotel-on-fire-blaze-continues-after-6-hours-one-person-unaccounted-for/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2017/10/31/breaking-polaris-hotel-on-fire-blaze-continues-after-6-hours-one-person-unaccounted-for/#commentsTue, 31 Oct 2017 17:26:46 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=31824Nome Fire Chief Jim West, Jr., and his crew are all safe after fighting a Polaris Hotel fire for six hours, but reportedly, at least one person, who could still be inside Polaris, is unaccounted for. The identity of the missing person is not being released at this time.]]>

Update, 1:35pm AKDT: Going on hour ten of the Polaris fire, a mixture of smoke and fog now blankets the City of Nome. Residents on the north side of town, near Icy View, are advised to spend minimal time outside as the smoke continues to spread.

Photo Gallery

Photos courtesy of John Handeland.

9:26am AKDT Tuesday (original story): Nome residents awoke this morning to see the Polaris Hotel ablaze. 22 of the available 30 Nome firefighters are currently containing the blaze, which has been burning for roughly six hours.

According to Nome Fire Chief Jim West, Jr., the Fire Department was first notified of a fire that started in the Polaris liquor store around 3:15 Tuesday morning.

“It’s coming out of the liquor store; the owner came out and said he smelled smoke. He checked the back kitchen, nothing there; as he worked his way back through the building and came to the storage area where’s there a couple coolers and whatnot, he got a burst of smoke and flame.”

West Jr. and his crew are all safe, but reportedly at least one person, who could still be inside Polaris, is unaccounted for.

“We made entry to the upstairs to get everybody out; we think we got everybody out. We are unsure of it. There’s a possibility that someone might be inside, but we are unsure at this time.”

The identity of the missing person is not being released at this time.

Firefighter crews on duty as Polaris Hotel continues to burn due to a fire that started in liquor store. Photo Credit: Davis Hovey, KNOM (2017)

As the work to extinguish this fire continues, West Jr. has observed the blaze spread up through the second floor of Polaris and on to an adjacent structure. The Fire Chief says his crew has taken steps to prevent the fire from affecting further buildings and has a back hoe standing by just in case.

“I think at this point in time it’s not going to jump, you can tell the smoke conditions have changed. More white smoke, lighter white, lighter grey. The building had a lot of spray insulation in it, and that’s very hazardous, spray foam insulation, that’s what it is. That’s what we are worried about, too; it’s just an old building.”

West Jr. believes the Polaris Hotel is totaled at this point. KNOM will provide updates on the status of this fire, what caused the blaze, and the unaccounted person as more information becomes available.

Image at top: One Nome firefighter hoses down the Polaris Hotel on Tuesday morning after fire has been burning for more than 6 hours. Photo: Davis Hovey, KNOM (2017).

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2017/10/31/breaking-polaris-hotel-on-fire-blaze-continues-after-6-hours-one-person-unaccounted-for/feed/131824Wildfire Starts in Stebbins After Blaze Escapes Community Dumphttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2017/06/20/wildfire-starts-in-stebbins-after-blaze-escapes-community-dump/
Tue, 20 Jun 2017 17:48:07 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=29859Beth Ipsen, spokesperson for the BLM Alaska Fire Service, says the fire became their priority when already-burning debris in the dump went rogue around 9:30 Friday night. By Tuesday morning, she says, the six emergency firefighters from a Grayling crew had finished mopping up the fire that escaped the dump.]]>

Since Friday evening, a fire has been burning near the waste dump in the community of Stebbins.

About a half a mile away from Stebbins, the wildfire has been burning in an area of six acres very close to the community’s dump. According to the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service, on Saturday, eight smokejumpers and multiple airplanes concentrated on the blaze that was half an acre within the dump perimeter.

Beth Ipsen, spokesperson for the BLM Alaska Fire Service, says the fire became their priority when already-burning debris in the dump went rogue around 9:30 Friday night.

“Unfortunately, sometimes we do have a fire get outside the confines of the dump, spread into the tundra, and it was headed towards the village of Stebbins. Every year, we seem to have a few of these dump fires where the fire within the dump that’s burning debris, escapes the confines of the dump,” Ipsen continued, “Firefighters will not go within the dump because of the hazardous materials, but they will suppress the fire that is outside the dump.”

Ipsen reports that by this morning, the six emergency firefighters from a Grayling crew had finished mopping up the fire that escaped the dump.

]]>29859Nineteen New Wildfires Appear in Western Alaska Within a Dayhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2017/06/07/nineteen-new-wildfires-appear-in-western-alaska-within-a-day/
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 01:30:51 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=29713Less than three miles away from Anvik, the Deadman’s Slough fire has spread to around 420 acres since Monday. Ipsen says the crew fighting this fire has increased in number and has contained 30% of the fire.]]>

Since yesterday, nineteen new fires have started west of the Yukon River in the Galena zone, an area of about 93 million acres. These latest blazes raise the current number of active wildfires in Alaska to about 50.

Beth Ipsen is the spokesperson for Bureau of Land Management’s Alaska Fire Service. Ipsen says these fires extend from Southwestern Alaska to the North Slope.

“Many of these fires were discovered along the Western coast from Unalakleet to Point Romanof. When Galena sent out an aircraft to fly, it’s called a detection flight,” explained Ipsen. “So, when we get a rash of lightning that runs through an area and it’s not accompanied by a lot of rain, then they’ll fly the area to see if there’s any new wildfires.”

In order to combat 49 currently active wildfires throughout the State, additional smoke jumpers and firefighting resources are coming up from the lower 48. Ipsen says around 20 smoke jumpers from Boise, Idaho, should be in Alaska sometime today.

“We’re also bringing in some of the type-2, emergency firefighter village crews,” said Ipsen. “I know that we should have one from Grayling that will be going out to the Deadman’s Slough fire near Anvik in the next day or two.”

Less than three miles away from Anvik, the Deadman’s Slough fire has spread to around 420 acres since Monday. Ipsen says the crew fighting this fire has increased in number and has contained 30% of the fire.

“We have 33 people on the fire right now, including the eight smoke jumpers and the Interagency hot shot crew that are concentrating on making sure that it doesn’t get to the village. But, now, they are also focusing on putting the fire out,” Ipsen stated.

The National Weather Service has removed the red flag warnings from its website; however, Ipsen says there is still strong potential for more fires to start in these conditions.

“For Interior Alaska, the conditions are near red flag conditions but not quite, but that could always change. And usually, what red flag criteria is, you have to have temperatures of at least 75 degrees, a relative humidity factor of 25% or lower, and sustained winds of at least 15mph. So if you have all three of those at the same time, that’s when you have your red flag conditions.” Ipsen continued, “You can have near red flag conditions if one of those is just a little bit under.”

According to Ipsen, no injuries or building damages have been reported as a result of the fires in the Galena zone or the Deadman’s Slough fire. It is unknown as to when these fires will be put out.